Open AccessJournal Article
Reducing Adolescent Drug Abuse: Sociological Strategies for Community Practice
TLDR
The role of the sociologist in helping communities to recognize a social problem is analyzed in the context of social construction of reality theory as discussed by the authors, and strategies for community-based sociological practice are discussed.Abstract:
Strategies for community-based sociological practice are discussed. The role of the sociologist in helping communities to recognize a social problem is analyzed in the context of social construction of reality theory. Once a community accepts that it has a problem with adolescent drug abuse, control and peer association theories can guide sociologists who wish to join with community leaders to combat drug abuse. By strengthening bonds among community organizations, parents, and other groups, the community tolerance for drug abuse is reduced and support for peer prevention is built. This paper discusses the role of the sociologist in defining drag abuse as a problem and in mobilizing community resources to deal with it. Based on an on-going intervention project, strategies are introduced for practicing sociologists, who wish to assist communities in the prevention of and intervention with adolescent drug abuse. Grounded in social construction of reality, social control, and peer association theory, the model may be generalizable to other forms of social deviance of concern to communities. A previous version of this paper was presented to the Sociological Practice Association, June 1988, Washington, D.C. This paper benefited from discussion and comments by the reviewers and David J. Kallen, Loyd S. Wright, Ann Marie Ellis, Paul Hodges, Nina M. Wright, and Susan B. Thompson.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Outsiders Studies in the Sociology of Deviance.
TL;DR: In the 1966 paperback edition of a publication which first appeared in 1963 has by now been widely reviewed as a worthy contribution to the sociological study of deviant behavior as discussed by the authors, and the authors developed a sequential model of deviance relying on the concept of career, a concept originally developed in studies of occupations.
BookDOI
International clinical sociology
TL;DR: The history of clinical sociology in the United States can be traced back to the early 1970s and 1990s as discussed by the authors, when clinical sociological contributions to the field of mediation and community mediation were made.
Book ChapterDOI
Drug Abuse Prevention
W. David Watts,Nina B. Wright +1 more
TL;DR: Drawing on the authors’ experience in one community, this chapter reports on the role of the sociologist in facilitating a community’s action to reduce drug and alcohol abuse, particularly among adolescents.
Book ChapterDOI
Problem Solving at the Mesolevel
John G. Bruhn,Howard M. Rebach +1 more
TL;DR: The distinction between macro-and micro-sociology have been debated for quite some time as mentioned in this paper, and there is controversy among sociologists about the meaning of the words micro and macro.
Journal Article
Drug and Alcohol Abuse Prevention: Defining the Need in Organizations
TL;DR: The first intervention is to define the nature of the problem through data gathering and analysis, particularly self-reports of drug and alcohol use by the organization's members, and the types of interventions that are likely to be successful.
References
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Book
The Social Construction of Reality
TL;DR: Scheleris et al. as mentioned in this paper proposed a sociologijos disciplinos raida, which is a discipline for sociologists to discipline themselves in the discipline of social sciences.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Social Construction of Reality
Book
The Sociological Imagination
TL;DR: The sociological imagination is a sociological vision, a way of looking at the world that can see links between the apparently private problems of the individual and important social issues as discussed by the authors.
Book
Outsiders; studies in the sociology of deviance
TL;DR: One of the most groundbreaking sociology texts of the mid-20th century, Howard S. Becker's Outsiders is a thorough exploration of social deviance and how it can be addressed in an understanding and helpful manner.
Journal ArticleDOI
Outsiders Studies in the Sociology of Deviance.
TL;DR: In the 1966 paperback edition of a publication which first appeared in 1963 has by now been widely reviewed as a worthy contribution to the sociological study of deviant behavior as discussed by the authors, and the authors developed a sequential model of deviance relying on the concept of career, a concept originally developed in studies of occupations.